Monday Meals: Simple Stuffed Peppers

Green and red peppers are a staple in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen; SB loves to eat them chopped up in her lunch box every week. But last week our pepper inventory got a little out of control. We hadn't been paying attention to the produce we had been ordering; and we ended up with six green peppers. Not a bad problem to have; it just meant it was time for stuffed peppers!

We had all the ingredients in the house to make this super simple recipe; and we were able to prepare and get them on the table while quizzing SB on her fridge facts and sight words. Now that's multi-tasking!

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week; we had a slight syncing issue on our phones; and lost all our food blog pictures this week. Ugh. So, use your imagination, and take our word for it that these peppers are amazing, and really, really delicious.

Simple Stuffed Peppers
Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home

2 large green peppers
1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce, divided
1 cup cooked rice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds. Place peppers in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook for 3 minutes. Drain and immediately place in ice water; invert on paper towels.

In a small skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove from the heat. Stir in 1 cup tomato sauce, rice, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Spoon into peppers.

Place in an ungreased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Drizzle with remaining tomato sauce. Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until peppers are tender. Yield: 2 servings.

Note: we doubled the recipe since we had so many peppers in our fridge; and it provided enough for leftovers the next day. Also- we substituted ground turkey for beef- it was a good way to cut some fat and calories from the recipe, and didn't compromise the taste. 

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures. Bear with us, and we promise to have more for you soon.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Football Friday: Stuffed Meatballs

We're not sure why, but meatball subs have become the official Football Sunday food of the Wisconsin Test Kitchen. It's an easy meal to throw together, and we always make a double batch so we have enough to freeze for a meal later in the week. 

Recently, we found a recipe for cheese stuffed meatballs, and decided to put a new twist on Meatball Sunday. And bonus points for the fact the meatballs cook in the slowcooker- which gives us more time for football and less time for cooking. 

Stuffed Meatballs
Recipe courtesy of: http://lecremedelacrumb.com/2014/10/slow-cooker-mozzarella-stuffed-meatballs.html

1 pound ground beef (we used pork instead)
1 cup bread crumbs (panko or regular, Italian seasoned or plain)
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon minced garlic (or 2 teaspoons garlic powder)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
3-4 mozzarella cheese sticks (string cheese)
1 jar marinara sauce

Chop each cheese stick into half inch pieces (about 6-8 pieces for each cheese stick). Place on a plate and chill in the freezer until ready to use.

Add ground beef, bread crumbs, egg and egg yolk, garlic, onion powder, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to a bowl. Mush the ingredients together with your hands until everything comes together.

Remove cheese from freezer. Scoop out about 4 tablespoons of meat mixture and roll into a ball. Gently push a piece of chilled mozzarella into the middle of the meatball. Roll the ball in your hands to cover the hole where the mozzarella cheese was pushed in. Place inside a greased slow cooker and repeat with remaining meat and cheese.

When all meatballs are in the slow cooker, pour a jar of marinara sauce over the top of meatballs, cover and cook on high for 1-2 hours or on low for 3-4 hours until meat it cooked through (no longer pink). The cheese may start melting out of the meatballs, that's okay.

Serve on warm hoagie rolls with extra marinara sauce. 

And now for some Football Friday picks! We've been off a few weeks, but Tristan is still holding onto his 4 point lead with 56 correct predictions this season.

Minnesota vs. Arizona
Sawyer: Cardinals
Tristan: Cardinals

Buffalo vs. Philly
Sawyer: Eagles
Tristan: Eagles

Tennessee vs. NYJ
Sawyer: Jets
Tristan: Titans

Pittsburgh vs. Cinncinati
Sawyer: Bengals
Tristan: Bengals

Indy vs. Jacksonsville
Sawyer: Jaguars
Tristan: Jaguars

San Diego vs. KC
Sawyer: Chiefs
Tristan: Chiefs

Washington vs. Chicago
Sawyer: Redskins
Tristan: Bears

Atlanta vs. Carolina
Sawyer: Falcons
Tristan: Panthers

New Orleans vs. Tampa Bay
Sawyer: Buccaneers
Tristan: Buccaneers

Detroit vs. St Louis
Sawyer: Rans
Tristan: Lions

San Francisco
Sawyer: 49ers
Tristan: Browns

Seattle vs. Baltimore
Sawyer: Ravens
Tristan: Seahawks

Oakland vs. Denver
Sawyer: Broncos
Tristan: Broncos

Dallas vs. Green Bay
Sawyer: Packers, baby
Tristan: Packers

New England vs. Houston
Sawyer: Patriots
Tristan: Patriots

NYG vs. Miami
Sawyer: Dolphins
Tristan: Dolphins

Here's hoping for a weekend full of football, fun and family!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Monday Meals: Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

We're back from a brief break, and we hope you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! The Arkansas Test Kitchen spent some time in Nashville visiting family, and sightseeing.

The Wisconsin Test Kitchen stuck close to home, but did take a day trip  to Chicago to visit the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. If you get a chance to see the Mammoths and Mastodons exhibit- DO IT!!! Our little chef loved it. 

But now we're back with new recipes for the rest of 2015! After a week of eating leftover stuffing, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes; we were ready for something a little healthier. We felt like we needed to de-carb a little bit after our Thanksgiving feast and leftovers. Substituting squash for pasta seemed like a good place to start. 

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

1 medium sized spaghetti squash
1 jar marinara sauce
1 lb. ground turkey

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half, and scoop the seeds out of the inside. Bake the squash- skin side down until soft (30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the squash). Once tender, remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

While squash is cooling, brown turkey in a large frying pan. Once the meat is cooked through (no pink), drain the grease and combine with marinara sauce and let simmer until warmed through.

Once the squash is cool enough to touch, use a fork to scrape the flesh out of the skin and into a bowl. The squash should resemble spaghetti noodles. 

Combine the squash with the ground turkey and marinara sauce. Serve while still warm. 

This was a light, tasty new take on spaghetti and meat sauce, and a meal the whole family enjoyed. We served it with a kale salad and warm dinner rolls. It was a great way to sneak more produce into a meal. Give it a try next time you're looking to cut pasta out of your meal.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew